Obama Nominates John F'n Kerry To Be Secretary Of State

And the "Global Test" is back!

Obama, making the announcement as Kerry and his wife looked on, praised the senator's "extraordinarily distinguished Senate career" and military service "with valor" in the Vietnam War.

"Over these many years, John's earned the respect and confidence of leaders around the world. He is not going to need a lot of on-the-job-training," Obama said. "I think it is fair to say that few individuals know as many presidents and prime ministers or grasp our foreign policies as firmly as John Kerry, and this makes him a perfect choice to guide American diplomacy in the years ahead."

Kerry has traveled the globe on behalf of the Obama administration to mend frayed relationships. Most notably, he traveled to Pakistan after relations had been set back by a series of incidents, including the raid that killed al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

"John's played a central role in every major foreign policy debate for nearly 30 years," Obama said. "As we turn the page on a decade of war, he understands that we have to harness all elements of American power and ensure that they're working together, diplomatic and development, economic and political, military and intelligence as well as the power of our values which inspires so many people around the world."

4 years of him and Obama is going to mighty tough to listen to.

Deval Patrick will make an interim appointment and then there will be a special election. Will Scott Brown go for it again?

Fun factoid: Kerry's nomination will have to be cleared by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. The same committee he's chairman of at the moment.

As Chairman of Foreign Relations, Kerry helped sheppard Obama's START II deal with the Russians through the Senate. The treaty was too awful even for....Lindsay Graham.

Flexibility baby!

As you might expect, Kerry is no fan of missile defense. Obama is clearly transmitting information to Vladimir via this appointment.

posted by DrewM. at 02:47 PM

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